Weft-replenishing mechanism for looms



1 WH|TTAKER, R BRADSHAW, AND 1. BRIGGS.

M. amass, ADMINISTRATRIX 0F 1. names, DECD- WEFT REPLENISHING MECHANISMFOR LOOMS.

APPLlCATiON FILED JUNE [7, I920.

Patented Oct. 10, 1922.

. Great Britain andlreland,

Patented @ct. 1Q, 1922.

if "f S WEFT-REPLENISHING MECHANISI'IL FOR LOOIVIS.

Application filed June 17, 1920.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that we, JOHN lVHlTTAKER, a subject of the King of theUnited Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and resident of Brookside,Nilpshire, in the county of Lancaster, England, and RICH- ARD BRADSHAWand Josnrrr Braces, sub 'eets .of-the King of the United Kingdom ofandresidents of Britannia MilLR-ishton, near Blackburn, in the county ofLancaster, England, have invented new and useful Improvements in'Weft-Replenishing Mechanism for Looms, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention relates-to weft-replenishing mechanism for looms and has'for its object an improved form of carrier for the magazine weftthreads.

It has been found that-the weft threads from the cops inthe magazine areliable to become entangled through draughts of air, unless they areprovided with some efiecti-ve form of support intermediate between theends of-the cops-and the supports commonly provided at the extremeright-handendof the breastbeam.' Such intermediate supports, however,present the difficulty that, when a cop is transferred, the support isliable to retain'the thread and so prevent proper threading of theshuttle.

The present invention provides for ef :fective support for the'weft'threads, which is suflicient to prevent their being displacedbydraughtsof air, and at the same time comprises means whereby thedifficulty referred to is avoided,the weft thread being drawn away fromits support at the moment of-transfer.

In the accompanying drawings Figure is a back elevation of the weftcarrying device.

Figure '2 is an end view of the lower part thereof, from the righthandend of the loom, on a larger scale.

Figure 3 is a view similar to Figure 2 showing an alternativeconstruction of one part of the device.

In these drawings constructural details are omitted, since they arealready known and therefore form no part of the present invention. I I

Referring-to the drawings, l is the lower and 2 the -;upper shaft oftheweft carrying device, 0116 or both {of these shaftsbeing -copvistransferred.

Serial No. 389,748.

rollers 4, lie stretched a narrow band 9 of card cloth. The rollersfi,4; on the lower shaft land the wheel 6 are attached to the shaft 1, soas to turn with it whenever a eft-threads 10, 10, coming from the Icopsll, 11,,held in thezmagazine, are drawn across the face of the bands7, 8 and 9 so as to be lightly attached thereto.

Theextent'to which the shafts .1 and 2 are turned at each transfer iofthe cop is such that each :of the weft threads 10, 10 is moved to occupyapproximately the posi- ,tion previously occupied by the next lower weftthread. I

The whe l 5ha-s aularger diameter than have the rollersfi, 3 and 4, 4,so that the extent of :the motion on its periphery atieach transferofacop is greater than that of the weft threads retained by the bands 7, 8and 9. The weft-thread of the cop next to be transferred is the lowestof the threads indicated .inwthe drawings, and it will be seen fromFigure 2-that, when the cop is being transferred, the weft-thread, whichis being carrieddownwards-bythe band 9,-is.caught by the particular pin6 .then nearest thereto, and drawn backwards and downwards by that pinpast the intermediate rposition 10 6 shown in dotted lines in Figure 2,iintothe position indicated by the next pin 6.

The backward motion -given to the weftthread by the pin'6, which issimilar to the backward motion given to the cop itself during transfer,serves to draw the weft-- thread away from the bands 7, 8 and 9 and atthe same time bring it more nearly into 'correct position for threadingthe shuttle.

The device therefore retains the weftgthreadsi-in proper ,positionduring the down ward movement of the cops in the magazine, and, at themoment a cop is trans ferred, frees the thread of the cop beingtransferred, from the retaining means.

Pins 12, 12 are attached to the band 7 to serve both as indicators ofthe correct positions in which the weft-threads should be laid and alsoas positive retaining means to prevent sagging of the weft-threads.Where the band 7 is made of material which is capable of retaining theweft-threads in position, the pins 12, 12 may be replaced by marksserving only to indicate the correct positions of the threads.

T he arrangement of the thread-retaining bands and the material of whichthey are composed may be varied from that shown and described, withoutdeparting from the essential features of the invention, provided thatthe materials employed in the central portion between the ends of thecops and the wheel 5 do not retain the threads too firmly to permit oftheir being drawn away by the backward motion of the cop and wheel 5during transfer. Thus the central band 7 may be composed of a materialwith very little thread-retaining power, the band then acting mainly asa screen to protect the threads from draughts of air, and it may beprovided with several rows of pins such as 12, 12.

In the alternative form of device shown in Figure 3, the wheel 5 withpins 6 of the before-described arrangement, is replaced by cranked wirearms 13 affixed to the roller 3.

Having described our invention, we declare that what we claim and desireto secure by Letters Patent is z 1. In weft-carrying apparatus forweftreplenishing looms, the combination with thread-retaining bands, andsuperposed rollers over which the bands are stretched and which areturned on transfer of a cop, of a wheel co-aXial and turning with thelower of said rollers, the diameter of the wheel being greater than thediameter of the said lower roller, and peripheral projections on thewheel, so placed as to draw the weft-thread of the cop beingtransferred, away from the thread-retaining bands, substantially as setforth.

2. In weft-carrying apparatus for weftreplenishing looms, thecombination with thread-retaining bands, and superposed rollers overwhich the bands are stretched and which are turned on transfer of a cop,of devices operatively fast to the lower of the said rollers and shapedso as to draw the weft-thread of the cop being transferred, away fromthe retaining-band and simultaneously to move it downwards and rearwardsinto position for threading the shuttle, substantially as set forth.

3. In weft-carrying apparatus for weft replenishing looms, thecombination with two superposed rollers which are turned on transfer ofa cop, and a wheel co-aXia-l and turning with the lower of the saidrollers, and whose diameter is greater than that of the said lowerroller, of a thread-retaining hand between the cops and the wheel, asecond band on the other side of the wheel, and peripheral projectionson the wheel, adapted to draw the weft-thread of the cop beingtransferred, away from the thread retaining bands, substantially as setforth.

4. In weft-carrying apparatus for weftreplenishing looms, thecombination with two superposed rollers which are turned on transfer ofa cop, and a wheel co-axial and turning with the lower of the saidrollers, and whose diameter is greater than that of the said lowerroller, of a plurality of bands between the cops and the wheel, athreadretaining band on the other side of the wheel, and peripheralprojections on the wheel, adapted to draw the weft-thread of the copbeing transferred, away from the bands, substantially as set forth.

In weft-carrying apparatus for weftreplenishing looms, the combinationwith two superposed rollers which are turned on transfer of a cop, and aseries of wire arms rotating co-axially with the lower of the saidrollers, of a thread-retaining band between the cops and the wire arms,and a second thread-retaining band on the other side of the wire arms,substantially as set forth.

6. In weft-carrying apparatus for weftreplenishing looms, thecombination with two superposed rollers which are turned on transfer ofa cop, and a series of wire arms rotating co-axially with the lower ofthe said rollers, of a plurality of bands one at least athread-retaining hand between the cops and the wire arms, and a furtherband on the other side of the wire arms, substantiall as set forth.

7. In weft-carrying apparatus for weftreplenishing looms, thecombination with two superposed rollers which are turned on transfer ofa cop, of three thread-retaining bands stretched over and turned by therollers, two of narrow width of firmly retaining material and situatedone near and the other remote from the ends of the cops, and the thirdband of lightly retaining material lo cated between the other two, awheel turning co-axially with the lower of the two rollers, adapted todraw the weft-thread of the cop being transferred. away from thethread-retaining bands, and whose diameter is greater than that of thesaid lower roller, and peripheral projections on the whee adapted toeffect such drawing away of the weft-thread, substantially as set forth.

8. In weft-carrying apparatus for weftreplenishing looms, thecombination with two superposed rollers which are turned on transfer ofa cop, of three thread-retaining bands stretched over and turned by therollers, two of narrow width of firmly retaining material and situatedone near and the other remote from the ends of the cops, and the thirdband of lightly retaining material located between the other two, and aseries of cranked wire arms rotating co-axially with the lower of thetwo rollers, and adapted to draw the weft-thread of the cop beingtransferred, away from the thread-retaining bands, the cranked portionsof the arms beingat greater radial distance from their common axis thanis the periphery of the last-named roller, substantlally as set forth.

9. In weft-carrying apparatus for Weftreplenishing looms, thecombination with two superposed rollers which are turned on transfer ofa cop, a wheel co-axial and turning with the lower of the said rollers,and whose diameter is greater than that of the said lower roller, and aband stretched over and turned by the rollers, of pins attached to, andprojecting from, the band and so placed as both to indicate the correctpositions for the Weft-threads and to retain them in the said positions,and peripheral projections on the wheel, adapted to draw the weftthreadof the cop being transferred, away from the pins, substantially as setforth.

In witness whereof, we have hereunto subscribed our names.

JOHN WHITTAKER. RICHARD BRADSHAW. JOSEPH BRIGGS.

